The WTO History Project and its associated archives are largely a
response to the momentous protests that took place between November 29 and
December 3, 1999 in Seattle during the World Trade Organization Ministerial
meetings. The project also documents the mobilization that preceded the
Ministerial. The protests were mounted by a wide array of groups and
individuals, especially organized labor, environmentalists, and pro-democracy
activists concerned that the WTO encouraged trade practices harmful to workers
and the environment and operated in a manner which they considered largely
undemocratic.

The WTO History Project was a partnership based at the University of
Washington that included the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, the Center
for Communication and Civic Engagement, and the University Libraries. The
groups collaborated to ensure that future researchers of the WTO protests would
have access to documentary evidence relating to the range of people involved in
the protests, the many strategies and issues they brought to the streets and
the meeting rooms, and the coalitions they formed.

During the nearly nine month mobilization in 1999, local and national
non-governmental groups representing a variety of interests determined how to
publicize the threat posed by the WTO and how to frame their messages to
attract the attention of the public, the media and the WTO itself. The lengthy
and often contentious mobilization process led to a six-week period immediately
preceding the protests during which activists prepared themselves and the
public with public teach-ins, training, and debates.

On November 30, 1999, first day of the ministerial meetings, thousands
of largely peaceful protestors blocked delegates’ entrance to the opening
plenary session. According to press reports, Seattle police in riot gear
responded by releasing volleys of tear gas and pepper spray at 10:00 am and
continued to do so throughout the day. The police eased up when the
20,000-member labor march reached the downtown core from the Seattle Center,
where a large rally had been held. WTO officials cancelled the opening
ceremonies. At a time difficult to verify after the fact, Mayor Paul Schell
declared a civil emergency, ordering streets to be cleared by 7:00 pm and
imposing a curfew on a large area of downtown, from Yesler Way to Denny Way and
from Interstate 5 to Elliott Bay. Word of the curfew reached people on the
streets at about 4:00 pm. Some dispersed, but others remained and were herded
out of downtown by police firing tear gas and pepper spray. At approximately
10:00 pm the State Patrol reinforced the police. Scattered vandalism and
looting of several downtown businesses had occurred during the day.

Early the following day, Wednesday, December 1, Seattle police
established a ‘demonstration-free zone’ around the WTO meeting site at the
Seattle Convention and Trade Center. They severely restricted access to the
area, but protests continued. The ministerial meeting was shut down for five
hours that day. Governor Gary Locke sent additional State Patrol troopers and
two National Guard units to relieve and assist the Seattle police. Clashes
between protesters and police spilled over in the evening to Capitol Hill, east
of downtown. By then the focus had shifted somewhat, away from the WTO and
towards the police response to the protests. Several hundred protesters were
arrested, and other protesters demonstrated outside the King County Jail.

The following day the Mayor’s Office reduced the size of what it
called a ‘limited curfew zone’ to the area bounded by Fourth Avenue, Pine
Street, Boren Avenue, Seneca Street, and Interstate 5. Some protests were
staged on Friday, especially inside the convention center. Protestors
demonstrated outside the King County jail again on Friday evening. Eventually
charges were dropped against most of the over 400 people arrested.

The WTO Seattle Collection is composed of one large and several
smaller accessions. Accession 5177-003, the largest, primarily covers the
period from mid-1999 to early 2000. Included are publicity materials, other
ephemeral material distributed during various events, reports, published and
unpublished writings about the many issues of concern to activists, photos,
audio recordings, and communications among the activists who organized events.
Oversize items include posters, signs used in teach-ins and protests, and rain
ponchos and other objects worn or used in the protests. Personal accounts
written after the protests describe the impact the events had on several
individuals and often contrast sharply with media accounts of the same events.

Many items in this collection were created by organizations identified
in the finding aid as subgroups. Other items were received and kept by these
groups to document issues and events. Many gifts of this material were sought
and received by WTO History Project staff in the Center for Labor Studies.
Still other batches were collected by interested individuals and forwarded to
the Libraries or to the Center for Labor Studies. Subgroups have been
established for the following records-creating organizations: the Direct Action
Network, a loosely-organized non-hierarchical umbrella organization for groups
of protestors; Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit law firm that
represents public interest clients; the International Forum on Globalization, a
coalition of organizations concerned about the effects of globalization; the
King County Labor Council; the Ralph Nader-sponsored People for Fair
Trade/Network Opposed to WTO and its UW student affiliate organization; and
Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, a coalition of trade and labor groups. The
Alan Rabinowitz subgroup includes materials contributed by Dr. Rabinowitz, a
Seattle resident who helped fund educational activities in advance of the
Ministerial. Included in it, besides audio cassettes of World Trade Watch are
printed e-mails of preptory reports, of writings of various friends and
contacts of Rabinowitz, of correspondence about the creation of the Independent
Media Center, and of news articles.

Although the NGO Committee of the Seattle Host Organization that
sponsored the Ministerial is represented by a subgroup, this segment is very
small and consists mainly of packets and other information for delegates.

During processing in 2000-2001, materials were also grouped
chronologically within each subgroup. “ Pre-WTO” reflects advance planning and
reports about issues posed by the World Trade Organization. “During WTO”
documents activities during the week of the Ministerial meetings, November
29-December 3. “Post-WTO” includes subsequent analyses as well as local
materials which address the activists’ counter-response to the police actions
during the Ministerial week.

Major correspondents include Alan Rabinowitz; Jeremy Simer, an
activist with People for Fair Trade/No to WTO; and Patti Goldman, an attorney
with the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund and the environmental community’s
representative to the Seattle Host Organization.

Scope and Content: Ephemera, publications, clippings, relating to the April 16, 2000
protest against the IMF at World Bank meeting in Washington D.C.,and the WTO
demonstrations in Seattle; minutes of one post-WTO mtg, People for Fair Trade,
transcript of radio program of a teach-in, 11/99, "The Day the WTO Stood
Still," and a report by the ACLU of Washington on official responses to the
Seattle protests.

Scope and Content: This accession includes newsletters, flyers, and pamphlets
relating to issues and events surrounding the WTO conference in Seattle in 1999
that were sent to lawyers at Earthjustice. Earthjustice was a registered NGO at
the WTO conference, and specialized in environmental law. Some lawyers had
published articles in the newsletters and were supposed to give lectures on
Nov. 29, 1999, the day of the rally.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users

Restrictions on Use: Creator's literary rights not transferred to the University of
Washington Libraries

Scope and Content: Picket signs and other oversize material related to preparation
for and participation in the WTO protests of 1999. Created by various
organizations, including SPEEA (AFL-CIO), Inland Boatmen's Union, Direct Action
Network, and the Sierra Club.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users

Restrictions on Use: Creator's literary rights not transferred to the University of
Washington Libraries

Scope and Content: Contains publications, fliers, and ephemera relating to the 1999
WTO protests in Seattle, as well as other materials on related issues of global
justice, and the Occupy Olympia movement.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Acquisition Info: Donor: Trevor Griffey, August 29, 2013

Processing Info: Processed by A. Demeter, 2013.

Container(s)

Description

Dates

Before WTO protests

Box/Folder

Accession

1/1

5177-013

IISD,
The World Trade Organization and Sustainable Development: An Independent Assessment: A Report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development

1996

1/2

5177-013

Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch,
The World Trade Organization (WTO) at 39 Months: A Sampling of the Damage and Dangers So Far

Biographical/Historical Note: Marjorie Van Cleef is a teacher and musician with the Bryn Mawr
Peace Coalition. She has worked as the Program and Action Chair of the Women's
International League for Peace & Freedom.

Scope and Content: VHS tapes, fliers, newspapers, and other publications from and
about the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle in 1999, as well as
Marjorie Van Cleef’s personal recollections from the demonstrations

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Restrictions on Use: Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of
Washington Libraries.

Scope and Content: Ruth Yarrow's collection of materials relating to the planning and
participation in the World Trade Organizational protests in Seattle in 1999.
Ruth Yarrow was involved in the planning and overall events of the 1999 WTO
protests in Seattle.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Restrictions on Use: Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of
Washington Libraries.